This Is Why I’m Skeptical That Real Reforms Can Happen – In Health Care Or Otherwise
Politicians don’t answer to their constituents. They answer to their corporate sponsors. And campaign finance looks likely to become more unchecked, not less, in the foreseeable future.
As this Matthew Yglesias column notes:
Should the Court toss out Austin, it could be the end of any meaningful restrictions on campaign finance. In most states, all that is necessary to form a new corporation is to file the right paperwork in the appropriate government office. Moreover, nothing prevents one corporation from owning another corporation. Without Austin, even a cap on overall contributions becomes meaningless, because corporate donors can simply create a series of shell-corporations for the purpose of evading such caps.
Makes me doubt that anything beyond cosmetic changes in our terrible health care system are on tap, given the trough at which politicians on both sides of the aisle have fed, do feed, and will continue to feed (h/t Ben K).
Tags: Campaign Finance, Heath Care, Matthew Yglesias, Politics
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5 July 2009 at 1:30 am
Strange that you posted this today – I posted something similar.